This invention relates to message announcement and response recording systems, and, more particularly, to telephone polling apparatus for supplying a prerecorded message to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence and recording responses from the stations after supplying the message thereto.
Telephone polling has, in recent years, gained popularity as a means for reaching a large number of people on an individual, personalized basis, in order to deliver a message, such as a commercial advertisement or a sales solicitation. Typically, in the past, such polling has been achieved by utilizing manual dialing and message delivery, which is relatively expensive. Additionally, this manual method of polling is susceptible to human dialing error, resulting in either wrong numbers being dialed or the same number being dialed more than once.
To overcome certain of the disadvantages of a manual polling arrangement, different systems have been devised to effect the automatic sequential dialing and announcement function. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,289 discloses apparatus wherein a prerecorded message is supplied to a plurality of telephone subscriber numbers automatically called in sequence from a local station. Upon placing the call to the first number, another second number is established by changing the first called number by a predetermined increment. In response to the first called number being reached, the prerecorded message is coupled to a telephone line at the local station. In response to the call being either completed or the elapse of a predetermined time during which it is expected that the called subscriber should answer the telephone, a termination signal is derived to indicate that operations for the first party have been terminated. In response to the termination signal, the telephone is repeatedly hung up and picked up automatically until the prerecorded message has been completed and a dial tone has been detected, at which time the second number is called. The device is activated repeatedly in this manner.
However, the apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned patent suffers from a number of disadvantages. For example, no response recording capability is disclosed, although it is mentioned that such can be provided. Such response recording capability is advantageous when making a sales solicitation because the called party can be requested to supply his name and telephone number, or address, for future follow-up by a sales person. Additionally, it would be desirable to have response recording capability wherein the response time is selectively adjustable dependent upon the type of information it is desired to record during the response. A further disadvantage of the apparatus disclosed in the patent is that the disclosed apparatus will deliver a message even if the called number is answered by a telephone answering device which delivers a recorded message. This is an obvious undesirable attribute.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for supplying a prerecorded message to a plurality of telephone subscriber stations in sequence and recording responses from the stations after supplying the message thereto.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such apparatus wherein the response recording time is selectively adjustable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such apparatus which, after placing the call, can discriminate between a busy condition, an answer condition, a recorded announcement condition, and a no answer condition, on the telephone line, so that message delivery is only effected upon discrimination of an answer condition.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such apparatus wherein the number of calls to be made and the initial phone number to be called may be readily programmed into the apparatus.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such apparatus wherein the phone number being called and the number of calls still to be made are displayed.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such apparatus wherein message delivery and response recording may be monitored by an operator.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide such apparatus wherein the present activity of the apparatus, such as dialing, message delivery, etc., is displayed.